Did anyone else notice???

At the very beginning of the movie. Albert Johnson is shown riding his horse in the snow prior to coming up on the dog fight. The viewer never catches a glimpse of his face though until the dog fight. But in those first few shots the image of the man on the horse shows bare hands holding the reins and they were severly frostbitten if not dead. At the dog fight scene Johnson is shown removing his gloves from very healthy looking hands.

This purposeful avoidance of the face and the frozen hands of a very stiff rider makes me wonder if the writer hadn't tried to imply that Albert Johnson was already dead and this guy assumed his identity. Later in the film though, you do get the impression that "Bill" and Johnson know each other.

just an observation that puzzles me..